Thread: Setting the bevel

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

It definitely varies. For an average eBay razor in decent shape, I'm usually done in about 10 or 15 minutes. The first 8-12 minutes is spent on the coarser hones, resetting the edge. I've gotten pretty fast with my strokes, so I can probably go from 1200 grit to shave-ready in about three or four minutes. I should time myself for the heck of it.

Holy smokes! Well that puts things back in perspective.

Basically, what you do in 10-15 minutes I do in a little over an hour. Yesterday I honed up a sheffield, an ebay find in great condition. In fact it looked NOS, as there was no hone wear and the bevel didn't extend all the way to the heel. All I had to was remove some oxidation and straighten out the bevel.

I was on DMT for about 40 minutes just to do that. And then another half hour on the polishing stones. If anything I'm even slower on these because I'm concentrating on zero pressure strokes.

And that hour and ten minutes seemed fast to me! I was sort of strutting around thinking, I'm getting good at this. Your post restored some perspective...

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

But then you get that wedge with a chip in the edge. Sometimes a big, meaty wedge will take three hours of careful grinding to reshape the edge and get all the nasties out.

Josh, what about oxidation? I guess I'm sort of obsessing about that, but it has bedeviled me lately, especially on extra-hollow ebay finds. The meatiness of wedges affords some protection, and the problem area is almost always right near the edge. But on paper-thin razors a tiny squiggle half-way up the side of the razor can penetrate almost to the other side, and sometimes just when you think you've gotten past the corrosion in your edge another patch starts. It seems like people don't talk about this problem much, and I wonder if I'm missing something, or am being too fussy about it...

Originally Posted by dylandog

But on paper-thin razors a tiny squiggle half-way up the side of the razor can penetrate almost to the other side, and sometimes just when you think you've gotten past the corrosion in your edge another patch starts. It seems like people don't talk about this problem much, and I wonder if I'm missing something, or am being too fussy about it...

Show me a photo! I have something in the edge of my razor that goes far enough up the edge that honing the very end away only moves the location of the trouble spot. It's very minor though and I don't think it will affect the shave. Regardless, show an example please! (if you have one)

I've seen a few razors with that squiggle-type oxidation. You're right--it goes almost all the way through the razor. Sometimes the razor isn't worth saving, because the squiggle will keep chipping out as you hone the edge back. Even good doctors loose a few now and then...

A confession: I tend to start eBay razors on my DMT 600. That speeds things up greatly. I don't recommend it until you get a little experience, because too much pressure can quickly develop weird edge shapes. Not good.

It sounds like you're using really light finishing strokes on the DMT. I use some one-handed pressure while I'm setting the bevel. If I didn't, it probably would take much longer. You do have to watch how things progress and make sure you're not creating problems.

In my opinion, the light pressure thing is only relevant for the last 10 or 20 strokes. The rest of the time, I allow my hand to press down a bit. This works fine on the Belgian hones, but not so well on the Norton. If I was using a Norton, I'd set the bevel on a DMT and then do one or two small pyramids with light pressure. That'll usually do it.

Josh

Here is my bevel creation guide: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31640

I just read through all of the posts in this thread and as usual do everything almost the same as JoshEarl. The only difference is that I never really go courser than a DMT-E 1200 grit stone. If I want to go faster sometimes and remove more metal then I will sometimes use some heal leading Japanese Style Back and forth strokes, rolling circles, a little bit of pressure, and/or some torque towards the edge to remove more metal towards the edge than at the spine; but I would not recommend using any of these techniques until you are very comfortable setting a very even and sharp bevel with consistent light strokes. The advanced strokes that I referred to can easily cause a visable burr on the edge that will need to be removed before moving on and/or uneven wear at the edge if the pressure and work are not kept even from heal to toe. Normal light alternating back and forth strokes will eventually get any razor sharp relatively quickly when the right stone is used for the job.

Great thread HD, full of lots of vital information for both new and experienced honers.

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

I just read through all of the posts in this thread and as usual do everything almost the same as JoshEarl. The only difference is that I never really go courser than a DMT-E 1200 grit stone. If I want to go faster sometimes and remove more metal then I will sometimes use some heal leading Japanese Style Back and forth strokes, rolling circles, a little bit of pressure, and/or some torque towards the edge to remove more metal towards the edge than at the spine; but I would not recommend using any of these techniques until you are very comfortable setting a very even and sharp bevel with consistent light strokes. The advanced strokes that I referred to can easily cause a visable burr on the edge that will need to be removed before moving on and/or uneven wear at the edge if the pressure and work are not kept even from heal to toe. Normal light alternating back and forth strokes will eventually get any razor sharp relatively quickly when the right stone is used for the job.

How low do you go when honing INOX Friodurs 7/8 or 8/8. They are a bit of a bear to hone.

1200 is good for them but patience wear thin very quickly.

Originally Posted by poona

How low do you go when honing INOX Friodurs 7/8 or 8/8. They are a bit of a bear to hone.

1200 is good for them but patience wear thin very quickly.

I still only go down to DMT 1200 grit. The Inox Friodurs that I have honed have not taken much work on the low grits to get a great working edge, maybe I have just been lucky . I find that in general, heavy wedges take me the most work to get a working edge on. This makes sense because if you look at a picture of the grind you will see that it requires more metal removal than the hollow razors. Some take so much work and so much spine wear that I will almost always tape the spine on these to save the spine from getting worn down. Even on these razors, I will only go down to the DMT 1200, but I might use some more advanced techniques to remove metal a little more quickly. Patience is definately an important virtue with respect to honing razors.